1、Designation: F 1232 98 (Reapproved 2003)Standard Practice forGenerating a Test Pattern for Single-Pass Film Ribbons1This standard is issued under the fixed designation F 1232; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or, in the case of revision, the yea
2、r of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. Asuperscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1. Scope1.1 This practice covers the description and method of useof a test pattern for evaluating character yield of a sing
3、le-passtypewriter or printer ribbon cartridge under continuous printingconditions.1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and d
4、etermine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2. Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:F 497 Practice for the Use of the Electric and ElectronicTypewriter as a Test Instrument2F 909 Terminology Relating to Printers2F 1125 Terminology of Image Quality in Impact PrintingSystems2F
5、 1174 Practice for Using a Personal Computer as a TestInstrument2F 1175 Practice for Using the Computer Impact PrintoutUnit as a Test Instrument for Manifold Comparison2F 1206 Test Method for Evaluating Color Image Outputfrom Color Printers and Copiers23. Terminology3.1 See Terminology F 909 for def
6、initions of terms relatingto printers.4. Summary of Practice4.1 The sample test pattern included in this practice wasdesigned to exercise the primary keyboard functions in ap-proximately the same frequency ratio as they would be used fornormal business typing in the English language.4.2 This practic
7、e consists of a test pattern that may be usedto determine how many characters a ribbon will producethroughout its life. Testing involves using the intended type-writer or printer and printing through the end of the ribbon.4.3 With this information the ribbon user can calculatecharacter yield informa
8、tion for competitive comparisons, dif-ferent cartridge designs, differences between various ribbonink formulations, and cost per character.4.4 Character counts are divided into two different testpatterns: one for correcting typewriters; one for printers andnoncorrecting typewriters.5. Significance a
9、nd Use5.1 The character yield of a ribbon is affected by manyfactors including the printer/typewriter design and ribboncartridge design. The end user may wish to evaluate thesedifferent machine and ribbon designs to determine the esti-mated cost of various systems over the anticipated useful life of
10、the equipment. For example, the lowest cost machine may notbe the most economical system when the cost per character(cost of supplies) is factored in as part of its total life time cost.6. Interferences6.1 The test paper used in testing may impact the generalimage quality.6.2 The actual character yi
11、eld may also be impacted byribbon length, ribbon advance rate, and character pitch. Theribbon advance rate is controlled by such things as the cartridgeribbon metering design, printer/typewriter design, film basestability, and ribbon slippage.7. Apparatus7.1 Typewriter or Printer, set to manufacture
12、rs specifica-tions including enough memory, or a robotics device capable ofrunning the test pattern in a repeating sequence until the ribbonis exhausted.8. Test Pattern8.1 For correction typewriters, the test pattern has 1951operations, of these 1299 are printing and 652 are nonprinting.For printers
13、 and machines without correcting, there are 1943operations, of these 1299 are printing and 644 are nonprinting.1This practice is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F05 on BusinessImaging Products and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee F05.02 on InkedTransfer Imaging Products.Current
14、edition approved Feb. 10, 1998. Published October 1998. Originallypublished as F 123289. Last previous edition F 55389 (1993).2Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol 15.09.1Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.The tester will h
15、ave to determine the appropriate tab settings ontheir specific equipment which will allow generating the testpattern.8.1.1 Follow F 497, F 1174, or F 1175 to use typewriter orprinter to generate the test pattern in 8.2 through 8.4.8.2 Generating the Test Pattern:8.2.1 The pattern opens with two carr
16、iage returns. Then thefirst typed line consists of: space space tab tab AHB-CHD EHFGHI JHKLHM NHOPHQ RHSTHU VH-WXYHZ8.2.2 The second typed line consists of: tab / sevenspaces tab / seven backspaces . tab space d correctionkey d space d correction key dhmcorrection key mspace m correction key mvtab (
17、 carriage return8.2.3 The third typed line consists of: tab / eight spaces tab / six backspaces . tab space d correction key dspace d correction key dhmcorrection key m space mcorrection key mvtab ) carriage return8.2.4 The remaining lines should be entered as illustrated inthe test pattern. See Fig
18、 1.8.3 Note that the pattern as shown in Fig. 1 is the way amachine without correction memory will type it. On machineswith correction memory, noncorrecting typewriters, and print-ers the second and third lines have this appearance:/./d dhm mv (/./d dhm mv )8.3.1 Other variations can be caused in t
19、hese two lines bythe innovative functions some manufacturers have incorpo-rated into the back space or reverse key. Also, if the test patternis typed from the memory of a memory typewriter, it is verydifficult, and in some cases impossible, to incorporate theoperation of the correction key into the
20、memory. This lastfactor can affect character yield.8.4 Whether the =1214 or % is typed depends on whichcharacter the manufacturer has decided to put on the machine.9. Keywords9.1 character count; character life; character measurement;film ribbons; test pattern; typewriter ribbonsASTM International t
21、akes no position respecting the validity of any patent rights asserted in connection with any item mentionedin this standard. Users of this standard are expressly advised that determination of the validity of any such patent rights, and the riskof infringement of such rights, are entirely their own
22、responsibility.This standard is subject to revision at any time by the responsible technical committee and must be reviewed every five years andif not revised, either reapproved or withdrawn. Your comments are invited either for revision of this standard or for additional standardsand should be addr
23、essed to ASTM International Headquarters. Your comments will receive careful consideration at a meeting of theresponsible technical committee, which you may attend. If you feel that your comments have not received a fair hearing you shouldmake your views known to the ASTM Committee on Standards, at
24、the address shown below.This standard is copyrighted by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959,United States. Individual reprints (single or multiple copies) of this standard may be obtained by contacting ASTM at the aboveaddress or at 610-832-9585 (phone), 610-832-9555 (fax), or serviceastm.org (e-mail); or through the ASTM website(www.astm.org).FIG. 1 Sample Test PatternF 1232 98 (2003)2
